Running-gear for railway-cars



' (No Model.)

' A. J. LODRIGUSS.

RUNNING GEAR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

No 601,896. Patented Apr. 5,1898.

| HO.,-WASHING'TON, n. c.

ilNrrnn STATE Brion.

AT-ENT RUNNING-G EAR FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters PatentNo. 601,896, dated April 5, 1898.

Application filed November 19, I897. Serial No. 659,160. (No model.)

To all whom it mctyooncern:

Be it known that I, ARIARD JOSEPH Loner- GUSS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belle Rose, in the parish of Assumption and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Running-Gear for Railway-Cars, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a four-wheel railway-car truck provided with'my improvement; Fig. 2, a transverse section on line x of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a top plan View, and Fig. 4 a detail View.

My invention relates to certain improve-- ments in running-gear for railway-cars; and my object is to provide a novel, simple, and practical device whereby each wheel is journaled separately on a short shaft, thereby se curing increased strength and at the same time obviating the well-known disadvantages of having two wheels attached to the same axle in the usual manner.

By adopting my invention cars are enabled to pass around curves as freely as on a straight line and the wear and tear of the wheels and rails and the breakage of axles may be measurably prevented.

Further improvements consist in providing means for reducing the friction on the axle-- spindles, thereby avoiding the danger of hotboxes and the damage resulting therefrom.

These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- A represents the central cross-beam of the truck, having its outer ends secured between the diagonal braces 2 of the upper and lower suspension-bars 3. The said diagonal braces consist of flat bars which are twisted and united at their intersections,as shown,in order to provide increased strength and rigidity without adding weightzof material. The axleboxes 4 are also clamped between the extremities of the said braces and suspension-bars. A bolster 5 is supported at each end by four coiled springs 6 and at its center by a compound coil 7, which rests on a rotatable block 8, carrying laterally-swinging coupling-bars 9, which extend to the other truck of the car.

The inner pairs of the upper and lower sus- 4 pension-bars are connected by cross-bars 10.

The bolster is kept in position over the crossbeams byplates 11, which are securely bolted I to the sides thereof, their lower ends clasping the cross-beam, and provided with slots 12, which are adapted to slide on large bolts 13, fixed in the cross-beam. The vertical movement of the bolster is limited by chains 14. The wheels have individual axles 16, and being thus free to move independently are enabled to pass curves of the shortest practicable radius without resistance or damage to themselves and the rails, which is an inevitable result when two wheels are attached to one and the same axle. It is also evident that the axles being short are not liable to break and thus cause loss of life and destructionof property, which are certain to follow such accidents. In order to reduce axle friction and the cost of lubricating material, the boxes are provided with antifriction-rollers 17, which encircle the ends of the axle-spindles.

It will be understood that my truck can be adapted to railway-cars of every description and may be utilized to special advantage for log or timber cars by a removable bolster 18, which is provided on the under side and near the ends with steel plates 19, having central depending projections or tongues, which engage corresponding recesses in plates 20, attached to the bolster. The tongues and recesses in these form segments of a circle having the king-bolt for its center. The trucks are thus enabled to swing independently of the body of the car. The value of this arrangement in case of collision or derailment will be manifest.

In order to prevent logs or timber from rolling or slipping off the car when under way, vertically-adjustable standards 21, having shoulders near their upper ends, are inserted in apertures in the bolsters. tions of said apertures are transversely slotted. When a load is placed on the car, the shoulders of the standards rest on the surface of the bolster, but when it is. desired to load or unload the car the standards are rotated ahalf-turn. Their shoulders being then without support fall into the slots and the standards disappear.

What I claim as new, is-

In an improved truck for railway-cars the The upper por combination with the main cross-beam of the herein-described extension-bars 3, reinforced by twisted diagonal braces 2; the transverse bars 10 connecting the double series of extension-bars; the wheels provided with separate axles 16, journaled in antifriction-boxes 4; the rotatable block 8; the laterally-swinging coupling-bars 9 attached thereto; the bolster 5, supported at its ends and center by springs 6 and 7; the supplemental removable bolster 18, adapted to swing laterally as shown and provided at its ends with adjustable stand- 

